On the Pirates section, there was a poll asking if the PotSM RPG was their first exposure to SW. This is an extension to that but placed in much broader frame. I was just curious to see how many people bought SW just for the core rules alone or if it took one of the published settings book to draw them into SW.

It was seeing the Rippers RPG on the shelves of my FLGS that got me to purchase SW. I would probably have gotten SW when DR hit stores but Rippers got me to purchase it much sooner.

And a set of other answers, like:
- A friend bought it, I borrowed it and read it, then bought my own copy.
- It's a Pinnacle product, and since I was already deep into Deadlands Classic, I knew it had to be good.

At least for me, a combination of these two answers would be correct...

"If you think I'm crazy, you should see the people I'm locked up with." - Steamdriven

Then you would choose the second option if you were originally drawn to SW due to liking the game mechanics of that system. My interest is primarily if people bought the core book due to originally having an interest in one of the settings or on the strength of the core book alone.

For me, it would have either taken DR or Rippers to get me to purchase SW. I wasn't originally into getting another mutigenre system since d20 was doing an adequate job but I'm glad now to have a much more GM friendly mutigenre game system.

edited to add: Noshrak, you would choose the first option due to getting it mainly for DR

For the rest, I know the 2 choices are not going to exactly fit your reason. Pick the choice that relate more closely to your reason for purchasing Savage Worlds. You can always expand on it in your post.

The game was recommended to me by the owner of my (then) FLGS. Although I was initially turned off by the cover (1st edition, I grew to like it), I gave it a shot. I hadn't even heard of the settings books until I started reading the core book. I didn't actually pick up any setting books for over a year.

I was reading Sean Fannon's Role Player's Bible book and emailed him to thank him for a great read. I asked him if 7th Sea was still his favorite RPG (as stated in the book) and he said that Savage Worlds had taken that slot with flying colors and that he'd never look back. Based on that, I bought the book and went from there.

See folks... if you read a book, ANY book (fiction, non, etc...) and you like it, try and contact the author and thank them for it. You never know what you might learn, not to mention that they probably enjoy the fanmail from time to time.

Chris in Atlanta
----------------------
"Were I not wed, I would take you in a manly fashion."
"Because I'm pretty?"
"Because you're pretty."

I voted core book, though basically that means I was interested in the rules system. I'm one of the guys who's been watching the development of this system from around the time of the first version of the test drive (i.e., long before the first printing of the core book came out). A big part of what drew me to the system was Shane's stated goals in creating SW and the cool stuff he wrote while developing it. It's too bad some of that old stuff isn't available on the web site anymore; it was very interesting and really gave you a feel for who Shane is and his approach to gaming.

What got me into Savage Worlds was the fact the competition messed up so bad.

First the gaming community was bitten by the 3.5e beast. "Oh, hey look I've spent $60 on 3 core books that are now outdated in just a few years, and now I can replace them with 3 more core books for $90. Aren’t I the lucky one!"

Then there was my system of choice coming out with a new edition that required two core books costing $35 each to replace a single book that cost $30. "Hey why don't you stick a gun in my back? At least that would be honest!"

I was really ready to give up on the hobby. I was getting too damn old to keep getting ripped off. Then one day I wander into my FLGS on a whim. A friend of a friend (and a stand up guy... he's known on the forum here as Briquelet) was in there and we started talking. I was ranting about my disgust with the industry and he was telling me about this great system called Savage Worlds that was one book at $29.99. I tried it and I've been hooked ever since. Thanks Brick!

Even now with SWEX coming out, PEG is outperforming the industry. The edition is mostly a clarification of the rules and a few refinements. Nothing earth shattering that makes previous stuff incompatible or obsolete. And then there's the unheard of... the PEG has found a way to bring the price down while still providing me with a quality product. For the near the cost of on core book of any other system I can by four and give one to each of my players!

Last edited by Patrick on Fri Jun 22, 2007 10:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Big into DL: Classic, read about Shane's new idea on the website, dug the test drive rules, joined the Yahoo group, bought the core rule book, most of the campaign books and eagerly awaiting many more.

~BlueSun

You'll get used to it... or you'll have a psychotic episode. ~ Zed, MiB

I followed Shane's design notes and was intrigued by the concepts. We had played Deadlands and Hell on Earth. In truth, I didn't buy Savage Worlds until I saw the cover of the revised edition in my F(N)LGS. It was an informed impulse buy that turned out great.

I had bought the first printing of Savage Worlds at a (not so)FLGS around the time it first came out, because I habitually bought universal and semi-universal systems. I was initially unimpressed and remained so for some time.

Around late '04, GURPS, D6 and Savage Worlds all had their revisions (revised SW was only a PDF at that point). The revision of GURPS was a beautiful thing, but even after considerable streamlining it still took too long to do everything (make characters, combat, etc). I was a lot older than when I first played GURPS, and I simply didn't have the time or energy to put into it.

D6 was a better fit, but I actually ran into problems with West End Games and a lost order (it was eventually resolved, but it involved more than I care to get into). It immediately reminded me of a time when I had bought the first d20 Weird Wars from that same (not so)FLGS and there were a few misprinted pages. Pinnacle took care of the problem in a couple of days (granted I lived around 60 miles from Blacksburg at the time, but still it was damned quick resolution). So with trust in the company more than the system, I bought the revised PDF.

It still didn't quite take, so I gave Hero System another shot. I had played it for many years, so even though it should be slower than GURPS, experience blunted that. But then I saw Revenge of the Sith in May of '05, right after seeing GWG announce a huge SW shark attack sale (all the in print SW books at the time for 100$). I was familiar enough with Savage Worlds at this point, that I found myself statting characters and situations from the movie in my head while watching it, something I could never do with Hero. I returned home, ordered the package deal, and it took off from there. I've occasionally flirted with other systems since (even the other three mentioned above), but I always end up back here.

I was looking for a system that had a nice element of gaming crunch and pulp sensibilities combined with low prep and streamlined bookkeeping. I heard about Savage Worlds over on RPG.net. I looked at the test drive rules initially but had a knee jerk reaction to some things like the exploding dice -- thought it might involve excessive handling time. I came back to it a few months later and it clicked with me (I think primarily because I read some of Shane's design notes online and thought he was right on the nose with so many concepts).

So, the core rules were definately the appeal for me at the time, but I also gravitated quickly to a couple of the settings such as 50F and Evernight.

That was back in 2004. I've been with SW since then for my occasional bouts of gaming, and I'm currently running a POTSM campaign for my wife.

Initially I was fairly indifferent to Savage Worlds. Then I recalled this idea for a SF/horror setting I've had in the back of my head for some time. Each previous attempt to create a system for it typically ended in an unholy mess, so I decided to try Savage Worlds. Definitely works much better.

BlueSun wrote:Big into DL: Classic, read about Shane's new idea on the website, dug the test drive rules, joined the Yahoo group, bought the core rule book, most of the campaign books and eagerly awaiting many more.

I loved the idea and hated the system. When Savage Worlds cropped up and made all those sweet promises of mass battles in a fraction of the time, I had to have it, preciousss. Never read the TD rules, first.

BlueSun wrote:Big into DL: Classic, read about Shane's new idea on the website, dug the test drive rules, joined the Yahoo group, bought the core rule book, most of the campaign books and eagerly awaiting many more.

~BlueSun

This is me as well.

I pre-ordered three copies of the main book when the price was $20!!! My FLGS had a policy that you pre-ordered, and paid, you got 20% off the cover price...

I caught mentioned the website Shane put together of SW design notes and the Yahoo playtest group. I don't remember exactly how I found out about it -- probably something on RPGnet, but being a fan of Deadlands I wanted to check it out. This is around the time the first version of the Test Drive rules was released, back when there were Vocations included in the game. I liked most of what I saw, except the combat rules, which I thought were wonky as hell.

I sat down one evening and played through a combat with a Paladin and 12 henchman vs. 1 dragon. The "good guys" were toasted in short order, but the combat rules made more sense. Plus, the game promised to have a lot of the things I had enjoyed in 7th Sea: mooks, chase rules, etc. The second version of the test drive rules were released, vocations were replaced by professional edges, and I put in my pre-order.

Of course, despite putting in my pre-order a month BEFORE the book came out, my FLGS didn't place the order until a week or so after the release. By that time, most distributors, who had grossly underestimated for the game, were sold out. It took another month for me to even see a copy of the game. Needless to say, I don't go back to that game store anymore.

Then I started a monthly fantasy RPG with some old college buddies and gave them the choice: Lejendary Adventure (then my game of choice) or Savage Worlds. They went with SW, and the rest is history.

Tom

Last edited by blusponge on Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

I had seen SW in my FLGS but at a time when I had stopped buying systems. Then our GM had said that he wanted someone to gm while he had a break. I could not see where I wanted to go with my two campaigns (lack of coherent system for one campaign and a plot hiatus for the other). Then I saw the Evernight book and liked the idea of a one-off campaign done for me. When i had read Evernight, I got SW to understand some of the concepts and decided to use it rather than convert Evernight (I was concerned initially that SW would be rather too lethal a system for my group's liking and am glad that it was not WOTB at that time as it might have put me off the System). Evernight was a success and the group has adopted SW for our campaigns for the near future. Ian